Transparency Rule Still in Place, FCC Reminds Broadband Providers

The Federal Communications Commission issued an advisory Wednesday reminding broadband service providers that they are still bound by part of the 2010 “open Internet” rule requiring accurate disclosure of information about their services.

“After today, no broadband provider can claim they didn’t know we were watching to see that they disclose accurate information about the services they provide,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement. “The FCC’s transparency rule requires that consumers get the information they need to make informed choices about the broadband services they purchase. We expect providers to be fully transparent about the details of their services, and we will hold them accountable if they fall down on this obligation to consumers.”

Earlier this year, a federal court struck down the bulk of the agency’s 2010 net neutrality rules, but not the transparency requirement.

An FCC spokesman said the agency was hearing a fair amount of “consumer confusion” about terms and conditions of service. The advisory was a way, short of conducting an investigation, of telling service providers that there are rules in place that needed to be complied with, the spokesman said.